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July 2022
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NEWSKeep up to date with the ayrshire college Foundation. Follow us on twitter here
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July 2022
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Ayrshire College has successfully recorded its second live performance for BBC Radio Scotland’s BBC Introducing in Scotland programme, played on Friday 24 June 2022.
NANI was the second artist to be selected from a shortlist of candidates for this opportunity – after a successful session with Pretty Preachers Club in January 2022 - by the Ayrshire College team. The students then facilitated the recording session on the day, helping with showrunner duties, capturing video and sound, and taking photographs. The three-year partnership between Ayrshire College and BBC Radio Scotland is the first-of-its-kind, with Ayrshire College being Scotland’s first educational institution to collaborate with the BBC Music Introducing project. BBC Music Introducing has had enormous success in England, helping to launch the careers of Ed Sheeran and Rita Ora. Ayrshire College was identified by Creative & Cultural Skills as the perfect partner for BBC Music Introducing in Scotland. The recording sessions take place in the newly upgraded Studio G54 at the college’s Ayr Campus. Formalising the partnership has been a real coup for the college’s Music and Sound Production department, who have hit the ground running with two hugely successful recording sessions so far. The partnership provides students with meaningful work experience in the creative industries – networking and working with sector leaders, liaising with music artists, and gaining experience of recording live performances to broadcast quality. With support from lecturers David McAulay and John McBlain, five students were involved in NANI’s recording session. Jake Ballantyne (HNC Media Analysis & Production) was in charge of video capture, Callum Gibb (HND Sound Production) had a sound production role, Nicole Kilpatrick (HND Music) was the showrunner and artist liaison, while Ashley McKinlay and Anna Williams (both NC Photography) were the photographers on the day. NANI is an Edinburgh-based independent musician and producer. Her performance was broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland’s BBC Introducing in Scotland programme on Friday 24 June at 8pm and is available to listen to now on the BBC Sounds app and the BBC Radio Scotland website. Studio G54 has received significant funding from the Ayrshire College Foundation to help realise the department’s ambitions. Patrick Devlin, Curriculum Manager for Music and Sound Production at Ayrshire College, said: “As the sole FE partner in this unique collaboration for the whole of Scotland, we feel honoured and extremely privileged to be involved with CCSkills and BBC Scotland. “The Music and Sound Production department has been exceedingly fortunate to have been provided extra funding through the Ayrshire College Foundation’s Innovation Fund to the amount of £25,000, to enhance our already first-class recording facilities to be a truly world-class environment for music, sound production and media students to learn. “From the early days of 2000 when the college was one of only two institutions to have acquired AVID Learning Partner status for industry standard Pro Tools education programme integration, this partnership represents the pinnacle of that journey from that point 22 years ago. “As a department, we always strive to go further to provide a competitive advantage for our students and this opportunity to work with such a global media partner, doesn’t come around very often. We hope it is the start of a fruitful partnership for years to come.” Lindsay Gillies, Producer for BBC Introducing in Scotland, said: “From the BBC’s point of view, this is a great situation to be in. We work with Ayrshire College and find out what they want to do and establish that together. We make an editorial decision about the top five artists from our BBC Introducing Uploader, and then this allows the Ayrshire College team to make editorial decisions based on the top 5 we recommend. “This partnership provides the opportunity to record a professional sounding session and working to deadlines to have the recording session broadcast nationally. These are things that I do every day and it is great for the Ayrshire College team to get the chance to experience them as well.” Kathryn Willens, Head of Partnerships (Scotland) at Creative & Cultural Skills, said: “Creative work-based learning opportunities are a brilliant way to engage students, develop their work-ready skills and nurture Scotland’s future workforce. The team at Ayrshire College and the student cohort involved have really set the pace with this partnership with BBC Scotland / BBC Music Introducing. It’s always inspiring when efforts to connect the UK’s world-class creative employers with new waves of industry talent generate such excitement and energy. Well done to all involved, and can’t wait to listen in on the next Ayrshire College / BBC Scotland Introducing session!”
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Ashleigh (Scotland) Ltd has been announced as the main contractor for the construction of the Willie Mackie Skills Hub, with work beginning today (26 July) on the Ayrshire College building in Kilwinning.
Named after former Ayrshire College Chair Willie Mackie, the Hub will deliver a curriculum in Engineering, Construction and SMART Technologies for employers, primary schools, secondary schools and college students when it opens in August 2023. Willie Mackie stepped down from his Ayrshire College role earlier this year after completing the maximum possible tenure of a regional college Chair. Appointed in 2013, Willie played an important role in the creation of Ayrshire College, as Ayr College, Kilmarnock College and the North Ayrshire campuses of James Watt College merged. Willie attended the ground-breaking ceremony at the Dalry Road site alongside interim Ayrshire College Chair Fiona McQueen CBE, Ayrshire College Principal Carol Turnbull, and Ashleigh (Scotland) Ltd’s Managing Director David Smith and Commercial Director Euan Clark. The new purpose-built facility – designed by Hunter Thomson Architects - will provide first-class training for people in Ayrshire, in subjects identified as being key to the economic regeneration of North Ayrshire. The project has received financial contributions from Ayrshire College, North Ayrshire Council, the Magnox Socio Economic Panel, the Scottish Funding Council and the Ayrshire College Foundation. Carol Turnbull, Principal at Ayrshire College, said: “I am really pleased to see that construction work is starting on the site and that the contract has been awarded to a local Ayrshire company. The Willie Mackie Skills Hub will provide opportunities for our students to learn skills in inspiring new learning spaces where they will be able to connect with employers and partners to develop their learning through work placements and apprenticeships. These new training facilities will prepare current and future generations for the employment opportunities generated by the Ayrshire Growth Deal. Euan Clark, Commercial Director at Ashleigh (Scotland) Ltd, said: “We are delighted with the recent contract award for this fantastic new facility at the Ayrshire College’s Kilwinning Campus. We value our relationship with the College and its staff and have enjoyed working with their team in the past on an array of initiatives. “This will be our first building project with the College and we look forward to working with the team on the successful delivery of the Willie Mackie Skills Hub. We are extremely pleased to see Willie’s efforts and commitment to the College being recognised, it is truly deserved.” Rufus Logan, Scottish Funding Council Assistant Director Capital & Climate Change, said: “The Scottish Funding Council is delighted to be supporting this exciting project which will create state-of-the-art, fit for purpose learning and teaching facilities which will not only improve the student experience but will also respond to the region’s future skills needs. The collaborative nature of this project, with funding coming from both the private and public sector, is exactly the way in which we should be working and we commend all the partners for coming together to make this project a reality.” Milo Bell, an Ayrshire College art and design student has won a design competition to create a logo for a new attraction in Ayrshire, the Alloway Tunnel.
The future trustees of the Alloway Railway Tunnel ART SCIO are in the process of forming a charitable trust. The first project will be the creation of a stunning art installation within the old railway tunnel at the Brig o’ Doon, through which the Alloway to Greenan active-travel path passes. Trustee Bill McKinlay explains more, “We have formed a collaborative partnership with Ayrshire College, and students and staff will be involved in all aspects of the project, from pre-works through to storyboard development, community engagement, promotion, project planning and the practical stages of mural painting. This engagement provides a real-world learning opportunity for Ayrshire College students, enabling them to apply their new skills. At this early stage in the project, we needed a logo designed for the tunnel to give it a clear identity, and so we launched a design competition. The essence of the tunnel project is to create a magical tunnel that Ayrshire residents and visitors will want to visit again and again. Supported by lead muralist Chris Rutterford, Milo Bell’s winning logo has captured our vision beautifully. We are delighted to present Milo with a £100 Amazon voucher and an opportunity for further work experience with Chris.” Milo says, “My focus for the logo design was to create something that was bright and uplifting, to evoke the feeling you will get as you walk through the tunnel. I also added a little nod to the history of the tunnel, by incorporating the railway tracks. The project has been a great real-world experience for producing art and I’m looking forward to seeing the tunnel come together. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Chris’s work and I know it’s definitely in safe hands!” Thanks to start-up grant-aid from Sustrans Artroots and Ayrshire College Foundation Collaborating Communities Fund, the Trust will oversee this community project, which will provide a superb experience for not just college students but school-children who want to help create an art installation worthy of this iconic location. The trustees are looking for notes of interest from teachers who would like their pupils to have an opportunity to work with the muralist on this art installation. Teachers should send an email to [email protected] and they will be happy to respond directly to any enquiries. Ayrshire College Foundation Chair, Tracey Stark says, “This outstanding project offers Ayrshire College students an amazing opportunity to make connections and gain work experience in our community. It is also a meaningful and memorable way to help them start their careers. We created the Collaborating Communities Fund to support and enable the launch of local Ayrshire projects and to make a difference through collaboration, The Alloway Railway Tunnel is an excellent example of what we set out to achieve and we can't wait to see the end result.” The trustees believe the installation will become a key attraction, and by bringing people to view the artwork, will introduce them to the path, significantly increasing its usage and encouraging repeat visits for those discovering this active travel route. Ayrshire College’s Essential Skills department has launched its own online radio station, broadcasting from the Kilwinning Campus 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
After weeks of testing, Essential Radio held its launch broadcast on 1 June 2022, with a 12pm to 3pm live show featuring special guests including Ayrshire College Vice Principal Anne Campbell, Head of Essential Skills Greg Cassidy, and more than 10 current Ayrshire College students. Essential Radio is predominantly a music station, however as time goes on it will also include college adverts, news features, student podcast episodes and ad hoc live shows. Students, lecturers and visitors can listen online via the Ayrshire College website, and the station will soon be made available to students through the ‘my Ayrshire College’ app. The station is also available to listen to on Alexa compatible devices by saying “Alexa, launch Essential Radio”. The project has been funded by the Ayrshire College Foundation and will showcase Essential Skills learning outcomes. The Essential Skills department sees this as an important tool going forward for developing students’ teamwork, creative thinking, ICT, and planning skills. Selected class groups will initially work on Essential Radio, before all campuses get involved by pre-recording themed shows. The first two themed shows have been recorded by Routes to Careers students, who review their favourite games and consoles, before discussing the subject of mental health before and after the pandemic. Students with an interest in broadcasting are encouraged to get in touch with the Essential Radio team at [email protected] to find out how they can best get involved with the project. Students can also request a song to be played on Essential Radio by using an online form at https://www1.ayrshire.ac.uk/essential-radio/. Brian Woolfson, Essential Skills lecturer at Ayrshire College, said: “This project has been eight years in the making, and I was proud to see it finally coming to fruition with our big launch show featuring staff and students. “The response from across all three campuses was phenomenal and I was so proud of everyone involved on the day. But that was just the start. Essential Radio will be the sound of Ayrshire College – so stay tuned in for our essential news, music, sport, showbiz, business, course information plus student and staff voices, and a few presented shows to entertain you over the summer!” You can follow the Essential Radio team on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram at @ERadioAyrshire to get essential updates on this exciting new project. Ayrshire College’s student-run record label, Sun Turtle Records, digitally released their newest single on Friday 10 June - ‘lullaby’, by Dio Zelus and Bluewave.
After the success of the electronic/pop duo’s debut release ‘what i want’ in November 2021, where the track was featured on BBC Introducing in Scotland, The Skinny and Amazing Radio, the pair signed a new three single deal with Sun Turtle Records. ‘lullaby’ is their first release of 2022 and is a dream pop 80s-inspired track that is perfect for the summer months. Sun Turtle Records is a music label established at Ayrshire College in 2017 to help give students and Ayrshire musicians an opportunity to record and release original music, while at the same time giving Sound Production students real experience of the music industry. Previous artists to have released work via Sun Turtle Records include Shanna, Mannequin Mannequin, and JOG, while the legendary singer-songwriter Colin Hay contributed to a 21-track charity album 'Lockdown Sessions Vol 1'. Dio Zelus is the artist name of 22-year-old Dionne Aird from Kilmarnock, an HND Sound Production student, while Bluewave is former HND Sound Production student Daniel Beattie, 26 from Saltcoats. The self-produced single ‘lullaby’ - which has also been played on BBC Introducing in Scotland - adopted a similar recording and production process to their previous hit. The duo sent each other short audio clips back and forth via messenger, bouncing off each other’s ideas and piecing together a final demo version before recording the vocals on location at Studio G54 in Ayrshire College. Studio G54 has received significant funding from the Ayrshire College Foundation to help realise the department’s ambitions. The single was mastered by David McAulay (King Creosote, Mogwai) and is layered with subtle, pretty melodies and funk infused guitars while maintaining its rhythmic intent. Murray Baxter, Music and Sound Production lecturer at Ayrshire College, said: “It's always exciting to be releasing new music on the label and it really has been a joy working on another release with Dionne and Daniel. It's great to see current and former students out there networking and collaborating and really putting themselves out there. “This latest track would not be out of place should there ever be a reworked soundtrack of Grand Theft Auto’s Vice City. The vocal delivery is packed with raw emotion with Dio Zelus wearing her heart on her sleeve. Give it a listen!” Ayrshire College has two representatives in four categories at the upcoming Bridge 2 Business Enterprise Awards.
The 2022 Bridge 2 Business Enterprise Awards recognise students, educators and individuals who are leading the way in enterprise within Scotland’s colleges. Ayrshire College lecturer in Music, Performance and Media, John McBlain, has been nominated in three categories while Evan Keen, Access to HNC Music student, is shortlisted for the Enterprising Student of the Year Award. John McBlain won the Further Education College Enterprise Educator award at last year’s ceremony and is aiming to win another award this year in either the Innovation, College Enterprise Champion, or Special Recognition award categories. John has achieved major success in embedding a podcast into the curriculum. Rockpool Podcasts gives all students in his department the opportunity to develop their editing, recording and publishing skills and gives them a platform to showcase their work. The award-winning podcast has published over 150 episodes so far, with students from every SCQF level – from school-college courses to HND – getting involved. John has also been heavily involved in the one-of-a-kind partnership established with BBC Radio Scotland’s BBC Introducing in Scotland programme. This project - supported by the Ayrshire College Foundation - gives Ayrshire College students the experience of recording live performances to broadcast quality and has been a fantastic networking opportunity for the college students. Evan Keen has been shortlisted for his fantastic creative project that he worked on in association with Kilmarnock Football Club. Evan recorded, released and promoted a cover version of ‘We Found Love’ by Calvin Harris and Rihanna, to commemorate and celebrate the 10th anniversary of Kilmarnock FC winning the Scottish League Cup. The music video was shot at Kilmarnock’s Rugby Park stadium and Evan was interviewed on the pitch at half-time of Kilmarnock’s recent home match against Queen of the South, in front of over 4,500 fans. John said of Evan’s work: “The actual deadline for the creative project unit is May 2022 but Evan decided to bring it forward and pushed himself to a deadline of 18 March to capitalise on the 10th anniversary of Kilmarnock’s famous win over Celtic. “Evan has an exceptional work ethic and he has demonstrated true entrepreneurial flair and drive to get this project to fruition. He has forged a positive and ongoing professional relationship with Kilmarnock FC's Head of Marketing. Evan pitched his idea directly to Kilmarnock Football Club and successfully negotiated access to an empty Rugby Park stadium to film his music video.” Ayrshire College and the Kilmarnock Community Sports Trust (KCST) have been working together to deliver free football sessions for 5-12 year olds. Since August last year, 26 sessions have taken place involving Ayrshire College Sports and Fitness students, supported by KCST and Kilmarnock FC coaches, with a focus on coaching development.
After the success of the KCST Ayrshire College Summer Camp, over 75 local school pupils take part every week with Ayrshire College regularly delivering fun, engaging extra-curricular activities, in partnership with Active Schools and Vibrant Communities, as part of the Ayrshire College Foundation’s Connecting Communities initiative. These partnerships help to raise awareness of the sessions and promote registration via the KCST Development Academy Form. The KCST sessions take place on a Thursday, after school, for 2 hours at Ayrshire College’s MUGA pitch, Kilmarnock Campus with a free snack offered to all participants. There are a mix of activities that involve warm-ups, games and fitness-focused activities for all age ranges and abilities. This provides the opportunity for the coaches to develop their own skills within a coaching environment and gain Scottish FA Badges, child protection, first aid and safeguarding training. The partnership creates links between students and Kilmarnock FC; often leading to talent identification. Jordan Allison, Charity Manager for Kilmarnock Football Club, said: “The partnership between the Kilmarnock Community and Ayrshire College has given hundreds of local young people an accessible, inclusive place to learn new skills, have fun, meet new friends and play the game they love. Building on the success so far, we aim to further develop this initiative and welcome hundreds more from the community as the partnership grows.” Ayrshire College has signed up to a first-of-its-kind partnership with BBC Radio Scotland, becoming Scotland’s first educational institution to collaborate with BBC Introducing in Scotland.
The College’s Music and Sound Production department was chosen to work in partnership with Creative & Cultural Skills (CCSkills) and BBC Music Introducing to help college students obtain meaningful work experience in the creative industries. The partnership will:
The performance was broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland’s BBC Introducing in Scotland programme on Friday 11 February 2022 at 8pm and is available to listen to now on the BBC Sounds app and the BBC Radio Scotland website. The students facilitated the live recording within their newly upgraded Studio G54, which has received significant funding from the Ayrshire College Foundation to help realise the department’s ambitions. Ayrshire College has enjoyed a productive relationship with BBC Scotland over the years. The College’s decision to create its own record label, Sun Turtle Records, has resulted in several music students achieving airtime on BBC Radio Scotland. It is hoped this new innovative partnership will result in more opportunities for the wealth of talent studying Ayrshire College’s Music, Media and Sound Production courses. Patrick Devlin, Curriculum Manager for Music and Sound Production at Ayrshire College, said: “As the sole FE partner in this unique collaboration for the whole of Scotland, we feel honoured and extremely privileged to be involved with CCSkills and BBC Scotland. “The Music and Sound Production department has been exceedingly fortunate to have been provided extra funding through the Ayrshire College Foundation’s Innovation Fund to the amount of £25,000, to enhance our already first-class recording facilities to be a truly world-class environment for music, sound production and media students to learn. “From the early days of 2000 when the college was one of only two institutions to have acquired AVID Learning Partner status for industry standard Pro Tools education programme integration, this partnership represents the pinnacle of that journey from that point 22 years ago. “As a department, we always strive to go further to provide a competitive advantage for our students and this opportunity to work with such a global media partner, doesn’t come around very often. We hope it is the start of a fruitful partnership for years to come.” Kathryn Willens, Head of Partnerships at Creative & Cultural Skills in Scotland, said: “Work-based learning opportunities are a brilliant way to nurture Scotland’s future workforce, and the team at Ayrshire College is setting the pace. It is always inspiring when effort to connect the nation’s world-class creative employers with new waves of industry talent generates real excitement and energy. We wish Nicole, Elizabeth and Richi – and the next Ayrshire College students to work with BBC Scotland – every success.” HND Sound Production student Elizabeth Paton said: “I was honoured to be given the opportunity to get a first-hand experience of the industry and couldn’t wait to be part of the team. I thoroughly enjoyed my role as an assistant audio engineer, which included setting up the recording equipment, sound checking for the band, and giving my input and assistance during the recording of the tracks. “This experience working with BBC Introducing has made me feel more confident in my abilities working within the industry and has broadened my knowledge and perspective of potential career opportunities for myself.” HND Music student Nicole Kilpatrick said: “I’ve always been obsessed with BBC Introducing live session videos and so to be working behind the scenes for this was amazing! “During the experience, I felt I was the most professional I’ve ever been in my life. Answering emails, planning and liaising with the band, the band manager and college staff, which I thoroughly enjoyed because I got to develop new skills. It has been an excellent experience and I’ll take forward so much knowledge when it comes time to leave college.” The new single released by Ayrshire College's record label, Sun Turtle Records, has premiered on BBC Radio Scotland's 'BBC Introducing in Scotland' show.
'what i want' by Dio Zelus (HND Sound Production student Dionne Aird) and Bluewave (former HND Sound Production student Daniel Beattie) is described by Sun Turtle Records as "a hook-filled medley of lo-fi pop, funk and R&B. Lyrically, what i want reflects on Dio Zelus' personal experiences when surrounded by intolerable people that have no self-awareness, and her tongue-in-cheek vocals are captured with her effortlessly laid-back performance". The single was self-recorded between Bluewave's home studio and Ayrshire College's music studio at the Ayr Campus, and was mastered by lecturer David McAulay, who has previously worked with the likes of Mogwai and King Creosote. The G54 studio has received significant funding from the Ayrshire College Foundation to help realise the department’s ambitions. As well as premiering during BBC Introducing in Scotland on BBC Radio Scotland on Friday 22 October, 'what i want' has also been playlisted on the 'Indie Mix Up' playlist on Amazing Radio. This new single is the latest success for Sun Turtle Records - a music label established at Ayrshire College in 2017 to help give students and Ayrshire musicians an opportunity to record and release original music, while at the same time giving Sound Production students real experience of the music industry. Previous artists to have released work via Sun Turtle Records include Shanna, Mannequin Mannequin, and JOG, while the legendary singer-songwriter Colin Hay contributed to a 21-track charity album 'Lockdown Sessions Vol 1'. BBC Introducing in Scotland is described as "bringing you the best unsigned, undiscovered and under-the-radar music Scotland has to offer". Murray Baxter, Music and Sound Production lecturer at Ayrshire College, said: "It's always exciting to be releasing new music on the label and it really has been a joy working on this release with Dionne and Daniel. It's great to see current and former students out there networking and collaborating and really putting themselves out there. “The production skills from Daniel on this track are up there with the best I've heard! It's a great pop song and for such a new artist, Dionne is writing and performing beyond her years, she's a real prospect with heaps of potential." The ACTV Film Festival is an annual event created by students studying Media at Ayrshire College in a joint project for their Film & Broadcasting and Essential Skills classes. The department and this project has received financial backing from the Ayrshire College Foundation.
The event showcases student films made throughout the year. Students take on roles which include Hosting & Scripting, Marketing & Promotion, Video Poster Design, Special Guest Relations, Editing & Technical, Voting Platform Execution and Team of Directors. This presents opportunities for students to develop technical and media specific skills as well as meta-skills and essential skills in Communication, ICT and Working with Others. Due to COVID restrictions, the Film Festival this year will take place online from the comfort of your own home! Everyone is invited to watch and participate in our online event which takes place on the ACTV Film Festival 2021 Teams Page on Friday 11th June at 2pm. The footage will also be uploaded to our ACTV Youtube Channel. The festival will showcase the amazing talent of student filmmakers at Ayrshire College. Student Films will be pitted against each other in a battle for the coveted Best Film Awards. Winners will be chosen by the audience who get the chance to vote for their favourite films in an online poll. Special guests from the film and media industries support our event each year. This year’s special guest is BAFTA Winning filmmaker, Hannah Currie. The festival is organised for fun, meanwhile it also tests the student's teamwork, production, and organisational skills. The event brings the students together as they work in a team to plan and host this event. NQ student Taia McPherson said, “I think it’s a good way for the students to show off what they’ve done over the course of the year, especially with the tough year we’ve all had.” NQ student, Lewis Millar, believes, “It’s a brilliant opportunity to showcase our developing skills within the film industry and develop transferable skills like working in a team and overcoming challenges.” As stated in an article by Weforum, billions of students are affected by the pandemic with remote learning and no face-to-face teaching, however students at Ayrshire College have pushed through the challenges of working remotely. We hope you can join us to celebrate our achievements at 2pm on Friday 11th June. |
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July 2022
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